Why am I passionate about this?

We tell stories for many reasons, but one of the best reasons is to teach our kids (or remind ourselves!) how to navigate in the world. We’ve all read Aesop’s Fables and at the end, the moral lesson is spelled out. This ruins the conversations you can have with someone else about what the story was about. Instead of feeling entertained, we feel like we were being told what to think and how to feel. As a writer, I love to include multiple themes in a book so that, depending on the age of the reader, or how many times the story is read, new ideas jump out of the book and into your brain.


I wrote

Dragons Don't Dance Ballet

By Jennifer Carson,

Book cover of Dragons Don't Dance Ballet

What is my book about?

Esmerelda Dragon works the spotlight at the Metropolitan Ballet but what she really wants to do is dance. Encouraged by…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Wordy Birdy

Jennifer Carson Why did I love this book?

I like to chat, and like most other people, whether it’s because I’m thinking about something else, or busy, or just simply not paying attention, sometimes I “listen,” but I don’t “hear.” Wordy Birdy is a fun read with a great reminder about why it is so important to listen to others and pay attention to our surroundings. 

By Tammi Sauer, Dave Mottram (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wordy Birdy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet Wordy Birdy, a very chatty bird who talks WAY more than she listens! A hilarious new story from Tammi Sauer, beloved author of Nugget & Fang, Chicken Dance, and My Alien.

Wordy Birdy LOVES to talk. “Hello, sunrise. Hello, pink sky. Hello, orange sky!” But does she love to listen? NOPE. One day, while she’s walking through the forest, her gift of the gab gets her into hot water: “That’s a pretty tree and that’s a pretty tree and that’s a pretty danger sign and that’s a pretty tree. . . .” Will this inattentive bird walk right into…


Book cover of The Errant Knight

Jennifer Carson Why did I love this book?

This beautifully illustrated book gently teaches that an act of kindness is always returned ten-fold. While my youngest child may not understand the biggest lesson in this book until he reads it to his own children, he did understand that helping others is always a good deed, and that sometimes we have to delay fulfilling our own wants and put others before ourselves. I read this book to my children over and over again, not only because we loved knights and tales of medieval times, but because the book has so much heart and soul in it, that it begs to be taken off the shelf.

By Ann Tompert, Doug Keith (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Errant Knight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the tale of a brave knight who sets out one day to serve his King. But as he rides toward the castle, frightened travelers seek the knight's aid and protection. Though he resists, something inside will not allow him to refuse. He presses on, but his mission is delayed again and again as the knight stops to help those in need.

Has he been loyal to the King by following his heart, or has he been an errant knight after all?


Book cover of The Sea Lion's Friend

Jennifer Carson Why did I love this book?

Everyone needs a good friend and often when we make a new friend it invites others into our lives as well. This sweet rhyming book teaches a great lesson about what makes a good friend—and it’s not because they look just like you and like doing all the things you like doing—but revels in the differences that make each friend unique and celebrates the things friends do share in common. 

By Ed Shankman, Dave O'Neill (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sea Lion's Friend as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

The Sea Lion's Friend is the tale of an unlikely friendship between a sea lion and a sea gull--two inseparable buddies who do all kinds of fun things together. Readers will be touched by this tale of best friendship. As with all Shankman & O'Neill books, the bouncing, Seussian rhymes and colorful illustrations make this a story to read again and again!


Book cover of The Dirty Cowboy

Jennifer Carson Why did I love this book?

One word: hilarious! In typical tall tale fashion, The Dirty Cowboy teaches a humorous lesson about keeping our body clean. As the mother of 4 boys, it was easy to draw parallels in my children’s lives and the cowboy in the book in order to coax them into the bathtub…even if it would take a good roll in the dirt the next day to get the dog to recognize them again.

By Amy Timberlake,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dirty Cowboy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

This ol' boy needs a bath!

After he finds a tumbleweed in his chaps and the numerous bugs buzzing around him affect his hearing, the cowboy decides it's time to head to the river. Once there, he peels off all his clothes and tells his trusty old dog to guard them against strangers. He takes a refreshing bath and emerges clean as corn – but so fresh-smelling that his dog doesn't recognize him! Negotiations over the return of the clothes prove fruitless. A wrestling match ensues in a tale that grows taller by the sentence, climaxing in a fabric-speckled dust…


Book cover of The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Jennifer Carson Why did I love this book?

Everyone knows the story of the three little pigs…or do you? I love this book because it teaches us that when we change our perspective, we see a new side of a story. Looking at something from a different angle helps develop compassion and empathy for others, which is a great thing for everyone, not just the kids! Plus, the book is funny, and who doesn’t like funny?

By Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The wolf gives his own outlandish version of what really happened when he tangled with the three little pigs.


Explore my book 😀

Dragons Don't Dance Ballet

By Jennifer Carson,

Book cover of Dragons Don't Dance Ballet

What is my book about?

Esmerelda Dragon works the spotlight at the Metropolitan Ballet but what she really wants to do is dance. Encouraged by her friend, Harold, to audition, Esmerelda takes a leap of faith only to discover that she doesn’t quite fit in with the other ballerinas. But Esmerelda isn't ready to give up—and neither is Harold!

Book cover of Wordy Birdy
Book cover of The Errant Knight
Book cover of The Sea Lion's Friend

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Follow Me to Africa

By Penny Haw,

Book cover of Follow Me to Africa

Penny Haw Author Of The Invincible Miss Cust

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Storyteller Dog walker Dreamer Runner Reader

Penny's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists.

It's 1983 and seventeen-year-old Grace Clark has just lost her mother when she begrudgingly accompanies her estranged father to an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. Here, seventy-year-old Mary Leakey enlists Grace to sort and pack her fifty years of work and memories. 

Their interaction reminds Mary how she pursued her ambitions of becoming an archeologist in the 1930s by sneaking into lectures and working on excavations. When well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey…

Follow Me to Africa

By Penny Haw,

What is this book about?

Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists.

It's 1983 and seventeen-year-old Grace Clark has just lost her mother when she begrudgingly accompanies her estranged father to an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. Here, seventy-year-old Mary Leakey enlists Grace to sort and pack her fifty years of work and memories.

Their interaction reminds Mary how she pursued her ambitions of becoming an archeologist in the 1930s by sneaking into lectures and working on excavations. When well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey…


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